[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 169 (Saturday, December 18, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2184]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    HONORING CARLA FURSTENBERG COHEN

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                      of the district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, December 17, 2010

  Ms. NORTON. Madam Speaker, I rise today to ask the House of 
Representatives to honor Carla Furstenberg Cohen, whose creative ideas 
and feisty energy were embodied in her legendary bookstore, Politics 
and Prose, here in the Nation's capital. With her partner, Barbara 
Meade, Carla Cohen, who died on October 11, 2010, built a small 
storefront with eclectic books into a major public literary salon that 
defined Washington as more than a gray government town.
  Her love of books could not be contained inside the book covers 
alone, however. Politics and Prose also became a combination discussion 
platform for authors--from Bill Clinton to Alice Walker--basement 
coffee shop with open mics for musicians, and a hangout for browsers 
turned off by the big box chain stores.
  No one who knew Carla, as I did at Antioch College, can be surprised 
that Carla Furstenberg, with her effervescent personality, had the 
power to create an institution. She did not leave all that energy at 
college, however. Of course, Carla, like the brightest young women of 
her generation, got a master's degree, was married for 52 years to 
David Cohen, and had two children. She worked in urban planning and 
housing and served as a staff member in the House of Representatives 
before joining the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
  However, Carla found her true calling at Politics and Prose, ``a 
place where books are not commodities.'' The bookstore was a meeting 
place for those who wanted to do more than buy books. People who found 
it important to have a place to talk about books and about politics, 
art, and the issues and items of the day often found their way to 
Politics and Prose.
  Carla Cohen threw herself and her savings into Politics and Prose, 
mortgaging her house and borrowing from family and friends to open the 
store in 1984, when the mega bookstores were at their high point. The 
giant retailers responded by trying to copy what they could from the 
book lovers' intimate atmosphere of Politics and Prose. The bookstore 
continued to thrive. Despite the recession, its sales, at $7.5 million, 
were $3 million more than two years ago.
  Politics and Prose will survive its extraordinary creator. Though the 
bookstore was put up for sale shortly before Carla Cohen's death, co-
owner Barbara Meade is conducting the sale by actually interviewing the 
six finalists, among more than 50 who made offers.
  The lessons should be clear enough. If bookstores want to survive at 
all in the age of electronic books, they had best study the model that 
Carla Furstenberg Cohen created.
  Madam Speaker, I ask the House of Representatives to join me in 
celebrating the amazing life of Carla Furstenberg Cohen of Politics and 
Prose, a legacy with life still to give.

                          ____________________